Which best describes the accuracy of the NCAA’s College Football Playoff Rankings that debuted Halloween night?

If you said ‘treat,’ then give yourself a chocolate or two from the overflowing bin of candies sitting on your kitchen table — whether leftover from your giveaway container or ready to eat from your kids’ kitty of tasty morsels.

Because the CFP committee got this one right.

For the first time since Week 9 of the 2015 season, a team not named the Alabama Crimson Tide or the Clemson Tigers — the last two national champions — topped the rankings of the college football world.

Deservedly so, the Georgia Bulldogs are the nation’s new No. 1 crew.

Sorry, ’Bama! But your strength of schedule just doesn’t match up to that of Georgia’s, dropping you to No. 2 behind a Bulldogs team that’s been bullying a better brand of opponents to this point in the NCAA schedule.

But the Tide, who along with the Bulldogs maintain a perfect 8-0 record so far, will likely get their shot to unseat their SEC rival in the conference championship game, providing both teams remain unbeaten through the regular season.

So with that, the top-two teams are set.

And both are on the verge of final-four berths, leaving at least two of the other Power Five conferences — likely the Pac-12 and the Big 12 — on the outside looking in when the CFP final rankings are delivered Sunday, Dec. 3. It could be three Power 5 conferences left out if the Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue their first-rate rebirth.

Speaking of the Irish, slotting them in the No. 3 spot makes perfect sense given their top-notch strength of schedule coupled with one loss — by just one point — to the top-ranked Bulldogs. Nobody can match Notre Dame’s meat-grinder slate of games, and the Irish have been dominating the likes of the USC Trojans and the NC State Wolfpack plus other traditionally strong programs.

And rounding out the top four, if not for that one upset loss to the Syracuse Orange, the defending champion Clemson Tigers would be top of the heap given their solid resume of victories, including strong wins over the Auburn Tigers, the Louisville Cardinals and the Virginia Tech Hokies.

That’s your top four — a perfect order.

Gold stars all-around, committee members.

SECOND & LONG

So what of the two other unbeaten Power Five programs, No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 10 Miami? They’ve both slid — Wisconsin dramatically by four spots — from last week’s AP Top 25 rankings. That’s due to Wiscy’s weak strength of schedule and Miami’s lack of domination. But if both continue to run the table, they’ll be in the top-four mix by year’s end, given what lies ahead for each of them — for Wiscy, that’s games against Michigan and either Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game, and for Miami, that’s tilts vs. Notre Dame and Virginia Tech and either NC State or Clemson in the ACC Championship Game … That said, Miami (7-0) is a home underdog Saturday to Virginia Tech (7-1). Watch the ‘Canes lose … ‘Bedlam’ goes Saturday between No. 5 Oklahoma (7-1) and No. 11 Oklahoma State (7-1). And it’s true bedlam, with the loser being eliminated from the national championship conversation. Both are hoping Texas takes down the other 7-1 Big Ten team, No. 8 TCU, to further the Bedlam winner’s bid for a title take. History says OK State fails in this spot, having lost 14 of the last 15 Bedlams to OK when both teams have been ranked.

THIRD & GOAL

Scott Frost, the sideline boss of Central Florida, is seemingly the best bet to become Florida’s next head coach. Randy Shannon is the interim guy after Jim McElwain was bought out following Florida’s 42-7 beatdown by Georgia last weekend. But Frost, who has guided UCF to a perfect 7-0 start in this his second season, would bring the offensive talent that Florida needs. Don’t count out unemployed offensive whiz Chip Kelly, though … Dan Mullen and Willie Taggart, currently the head coaches of Mississippi State and Oregon respectively, are other names being bandied about for the gig in Gainesville, Fla. But why? … Shannon’s first decision was to name senior QB Malik Zaire as starter (it’s about time) to face Missouri (3-5) in a Week 10 SEC match.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.